Striping machine



March 22, 1932. A. H H N E ET AL 1,850,393

STRIPING MACHINE Filed 001:. 6, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet l jd'offjffinne 1700 212 J51. Udah March 22, 1932. HENNE AL 1,850,393

STRIPING MACHINE Filed Oct. 6, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

v e m /M March 22, 1932. H HENNE ET AL 1,850,393

STRIPING MACHINE Filed Oct. 6, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Mar. 22, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADOLF H. HENNE AND DAVID M. CLARK, F WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOBS TO EDWARD T. ESTY AND JAMES A. CROTTY, BOTH OF WORCESTER, MASSACHU- SETTS STEIPING MACHINE Application filed October. 6, 1930. Serial No. 486,567.

fabric produced.

The principal objects of the invention are to provide simple and practical means whereby the faults in the fabric that occurat the time and place of changing from one color to another, instead of coming all in a straight line along the fabric, can be shiftedpartway around at any desired time; to provide a device for this purpose which can be applied to various types of knitting machines now on the market, and to provide means whereby the change in the position of the line of faulty stitches, or in other words the line of color change, can be moved automatically either a quarter way around the fabric or other part it way around as maybe desired.

Other ob ects and advantages of the 1nven-- tion will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan of a part of a striping machine of well known type with a preferred embodiment of this invention applied there- Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2; y

4; is a plan of an intermittently operating wheel showing its method of operation and taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan of the dial of the machine shown in Fig. 1 and therefore the parts appear reversed from right to left;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of Fig. 5 showing in full and dotted lines the way of changing the pins;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the star wheel raising cam:

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan of a part of the dial cap showing merely the position of some of the star wheels;

9 is a plan of the dial showing somewhat diagrammatically the relative positions of the three sets of pins employed in the form shown;

Fig. 1Ov is a sectional view on the line 1010 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is an elevation of the pin raising cam, looking in the direction of the arrow 11 in Fig. 9, and showing the ring in section, and

Fig. 12 is a View like the bottom of Fig. 2 showing a change in the cams applied thereto.

This invention is shown in this application as applied to a well known type of striping machine in which the needle carrier or carriers rotate. The needle cylinder, dial 2 and stationary dial cam support or cap 3 are of the usual construction. Such a machine may have any desired number of feeds, each being supplied with a different colored yarn.

There is a yarn guide finger 4 at each feed, this being pivoted at 5 to a bracket fixed to the base of the stationary cam ring 7 of the cylinder. This yarn guide finger is raised when its feed is to be thrown out of operation, by a cam member 9 having an inclined surface which, by riding over the tail end 11 of the yarn guide finger, will elevate its inner end and raise the yarn out of work and also so that it will be cut by the shear blades (not shown) and when out, the end of the yarn will be held by a clamp between itself and the blade, as is common practice.

A little before the yarn is lifted, cut and clamped at its loose or cut end, the raising cam of the cylinder needles and the wing cam of the dial needles are adjusted to retracted position so that the loops on the needles at this feed will not clear their latches, and hence will not knit off, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

For operating the wiper cam 9 it is mounted on a hub turnable about a vertical axis 13 and having an arm 79 to which is pivotally attached a rod 14 which extends substantially radially of the machine and is pivotally connected at 15 to an arm 16 pivoted at 17 to a base plate 18 of a bracket 19, said base plate being secured to the dial cap or cam plate 3. The arm 16 has a finger 20 hearing on the edge of the upper half of a cam 21. The cam is provided with a hollow hub 22, mounted on a vertical shaft or post 23 and connected thereto by a pin 24 on the post extending into a notch or slot 25 of the hub. The shaft is formed with a flange 26 to which is pinned a star wheel (1 having four arms, two of which are in a horizontal plane above the plane of the other two arms. The two high arms are diametrically opposite each other, or sub stantially so, their straight front edges being in the same radial plane, and the two low arms are likewise substantially diametrically opposite eachotheryso that the high and low arms alternate in position around the'star wheel. Thevertical shaft at its lower end projects below the star wheel, as shown at 27, into the path of a cam 28, having an inclined upper face, said cam being carried bythe dial 2. The lower end of the post or shaft when in its lowermost position projects into a groove 29 in the upper face of the needle dial, andthe cam 28 is located in this groove with its high point flush with the top of the groove. The needle dial alsohas two pins 1) and c, heretofore located in fixed position,

onebehind the other, and at the same dis- 7 tance from the axialcenter do). the knitting circumferentially of the dial and the cam- 28 for raising the post orushaft 23 with its star wheelis located on a radial line passing between the two pins.

head;-about which center the .needle cylinder and dial rotate. These pins are spaced apart The cam 28 is fixed to the dial by its shank. The two pins 12 and care in position to strike the arms of the star wheel in succession and by their combined action thereon/they give the star wheel a one-half revolution, one-quarter revolution for each pin, and consequentlythe cam 21 also will be given a one-half revolution at each feedchanging operation. In this action thepin bwill strike one arm, i. e., one of the high arms a, and give the star wheel a quarter turn, and the pin 0 will then strike the next arm of the star wheel, which is a low, arm, and give the star wheel another quarter revolution. These actions presuppose that the star wheel has been thrust down from its highor idle position so that one of the high arms is in the pathofthe pin 6. The low arms are always in the same plane horizonwith the lower end 27 of its shaft or post 23 to which it is fixed, andthus when the star wheel has been given its second rotary step movement it will have assumed the raisedposition with its high arms a above the plane ofmovement of the pins 6 and c, and with its low arm in the position to which it was moved and left by the pin 0. Thereforeas long as the post or shaft 23 with its starwheel remains in its raised position there will be no further revolution of the star wheel and the yarn feed controlled by this star wheel will not be changed by the travelling pins.

WVhen the next change is to be made, whether this be throwing the yarn finger in or out, the star wheel must be thrust downwardly so as to bring one of its high arms in line horizontally with the pin b. It must be noted here that in the previous movement of the star wheel it had been left in such a position that it is only necessary to lower it in order,

that its upper arm may be located across the path of the pin 7) to be struck and operated change at thefeed controlled by said star wheelit is thrust down so that it will be given tion as soon as its half'turn movement is com- I pleted. The high arm and pin Z) initiate the ,rotarvhalf turn of the star wheel and the pin c and low arm complete the halfturn, while the cam elevates the starwheelto idle positi on in the condition in which it is left by the 7 pin. 0 and low arm so thatit is ready again to. go through its two step rotary movement as soon as it is again lowered. For lowering the star wheel shaft 23 with the star wheel we prefer to employ pattern mechanism and flexible push connections, consisting preferablv of closely coiled wire members 29, uided intube's, one of which is shown at 30. These tubes are mounted rigidly on the m. chine in any suitable manner and they direct the flexible push rods down on. the upper ends of the shafts or posts 23 of the star wheels, so that each time, the pattern mechanism pushes one of these rods through its tube it will force'the shaft 23 downwardly so that the feed controlled by the star wheel of this post or shaft will be changed, whether this change be that of throwing the feed finger down or up. The tubes 30 are curved and extend to the pattern mechanism. There is one of these tubes for each feed and in the present machine they are held bv set screws in the tops of the brackets'19. The shaft is held in either its elevated or lowered position by a suitable detent.

M The cam 21 has an upper and a lower portion. or circumferential track. The upper track operates upon the arm 16 for control lingthe throwing in and out of the yarn'finger andshear, and the lower circumferential track of this cam operates upon an arm 34 pivoted at 35 to the base 18 of bracket 19.

This arm is connected to a rod 36 extending substantially parallel with the rod 14, and it has fixed thereto a stud 37 engaging an arm 38 pivoted to the dial cap at 38 and having a screw or pin 39 passing down through a slot 40 in the dial cap and connected with the socalled wing cam 40 of the dial needles for advancing them. When the wing cam is set in its outward position the dial needles will knit, but when this cam is retracted inwardly it will not advance the dial needles far enough to make their loops clear their latches and hence these needles will not knit off, but they will pass this particular feed while simply holding their loops. They will knit at the next active feed. The radial outward movement of the rod 36 will also operate a lever 41 to which it is connected at 42. This lever is pivoted at 43 to a bracket fastened to the fixed cam ring 7 of the cylinder needles.

The shear blade turns about a post and is connected by a link with an arm 51 loose on the post or axis 13 about which the wiper cam 9 turns. The connection between the link 50 and arms 51 is by a pin and slot- 52 to allow lost motion, and the arm 51 has a pin in between the members of a fork 53 connected to and moving with the hub 9 of the wiper cam. The rod 14 has a spring 54 hearing at one end against the shoulder of the rod and at its other end against a collar loose on the rod. This collar is borne upon by collar of the stud or roller 37, and this collar is fixed to the rod 36.

The two arms 16 and 34 embrace the cam 21 and they, together with the collars and the spring 54 and rods 14 and 36 and the springs at the raising and stitch cams, cooperate to give the various parts their movements in proper time.

hen the rod 36 is moved radially outward by the high part of the lower track of the cam 21, the low part of the upper track of the cam, that is, the part nearest the center, will be I opposite the arm 16, and this outward movement of the rod 36 will cause its collar 57 to press upon collar on the rod 14 and this will be transmitted through the spring 54 to force the rod 14 outwardly under control of the arm 16 riding upon the upper track of the cam 21, but if arm 16 rides upon a high part of its cam track the rod 14 can still move inwardly because the spring 54 will yield. This spring incidentally will also react through its loose collar upon the collar 57 fixed to rod 36, so

that when a low part of the cam 21 comes opposite the arm 34, the latter will move inwardly and thus the spring 54 will assist in operating the dial wing cam and cylinder raising cam to their retracted or tuck position.

The parts above described are practically all old. They constitute a part of a machine now on the market. This invention constitutes an improvement over what has been described above.

' The principal improvement consists in a change of pins 0 and 6. Instead of having these pins fixed on the dial 2, they are movable vertically therein and we have provided two or more pairs of them. The pins 58 are intended for use all the time. The pins 59 are used alternately with them ordinarily and we have shown a third pair 60 which can be used in place of the pins 59. l/Vhen the pins 58 and 59 are employed the fabric can be made with the change of color, and therefore they vary obvious faults, arranged in two lines at 90 from each other around the fabric. Ordinarily we intend to have a single longitudinal line of faults at one end of the tubular fabric long enough to provide two bathing suits or the like and another line a quarter the way around therefrom throughout the length of the alternate two suits.

This machine is so arranged, however, that the pins 59 can be silenced and the pins 60 used in their stead. In this case there will be a line of faults and color changes part way along the fabric and then another along a line halfway around therefrom.

For the purpose of accomplishing these objects the pins b and 0 are mounted on aplate 61 and an oscillating cam 62 operated by a rod 63 can be turned to either the full or the dotted line position shown in Fig. 6. This results in raising the pins in one case from the surface of the dial 2 and in the other case lowering or silencing them. A spring 64 keeps the plate 61 in contact with the cam. It will be understood that the other pins 59 and 60 are arranged in the same way and the three rods 63 are shown in their relative positions in Fig. 5.

For operatingthese three rods the pattern card is provided with an extra row of holes preferably at one edge. These holes are arranged to control a single flexible push connection 65 provided with a spring 66 to hold it up when the card does not push it down and with a cam67. This cam engages a sliding cam plate 68 and when the connection 65 is pushed down this cam plate 68 is pulled out of the neck 69 in a cylinder 70 and allows a spring 71 to push this cylinder down in a tube 72 through the cap 3. A plunger 73 on the end of the cylinder 70 moves down as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. Therefore, as the dial 2 rotates this plunger 7 3 comes down into an arcuate slot 7 4 in the dial 2 until it is pushed up an inclined surface 7 5 thereon to the top of the dial as shown in Fig. 10.

Now with the plunger down, the rotation of the dial :2 causes a toothed wheel 76 to be rotated on its own axis a part of a revolution as indicated in Fig. 4. This toothed wheel 7 6 is mounted on a shaft 77 and on the bottom of this shaft can be arranged two cams 7 8 and 7 9 and a washer 80. The washer is circular and these cams can be arranged in either of the ways shown Figs. 2and oted feelers 81 for operation by their respective cams 78 and 79 and that one of these three 'istration' with the washer or collar 80 which feelers is silenced when it is brought into regis circular and has no cam surface.

' v v Operation The pins 58 are normally in'raised position while the pins 59 are silenced; The star wheels a are raised or lowered by the pattern card, through the flexible push rods 29 in the tubes at any desired time to throw one feed unit out of action or bring any other feed unit into action. This change occurs at a point on a line extending radially through the pins 58. It is found necessary at inter- .vals to make this change at a different point on the goods; therefore at a predetermined time the pattern card will push down the star wheel a that governsthe feed unit to be taken out and at the same time the push rod will push down to release the cylinder 7 0' and the plunger 73. Thepins 58 willthus be silenced the action of the plunger 73 turning the toothed wheel 7 6 and cams 78 and 79 and the pins 59 will be raised to turn the star wheel a that is to take one feed unit out and also to turn the star Wheel that brings a new feed unit in. This new feed unit will thus-"be brought in at a point radially opposite the pins 59 instead of at the normal point opposite pins 58, or at 90. r

In the same way the feed units can be brought in at a point oppositethe pins 60 or at 180, by reversing the cams'79 and 80 as shown in Fig. 12. The pins 59 and 60 may be placed at any position from the pins 58 or there may be more than two sets of pins placed at any desired position on the dial 2. In Fig. 8 are shown the various star wheels a which are arranged one for each one of the feeds. They are operated the same as in previous machines as has been stated. On the dial 2 is'a cam 82 for forcing the plunger 73 back so far that the slide 68 will catch in the neck of the cylinder and hold the plunger in position'ready for reoperation.

From this it will be seen that themachine, as modified by this invention, will perform its striping operation in the usual way but that the point at which the stripe is changed can be moved in the present instance either a quarter or a half way around the fabric and that the machine is set up with the members 78, 79 and .80 in the proper position to perform this function.

The provision of such a fabric is of value because when produced in this way a pair of bathing suits can be cut from the same length of this fabric asis required when the fabric is plain. Without any such change, an additional length of fabric is required when the fabric is striped, that is about equal to one third of the length of a bathing suit. It will be seen therefore that with this comparatively simple change, the machine will permit the cutting of bathing suits or underwear: from striped tubular fabric with out any more waste than is the case with plain fabric. It will make such a fabric as is shown in the patent to A. S. Persky No. 1,831,192, patented Nov. 10, 1931.

It will be noted that the invention is shown as applied to a specific machine well known on the market, but this invention is broader than that and is not restricted to that or any particular machine. It can be applied to many, if not all, of the types of striping machine's now in use. 3 1

Although we have illustrated and described only one form of the invention we are aware of the fact that modifications can be made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as'expressed in the claims. Therefore'we do not-wish to be limited in this respect, but

1 2. In a circular knitting machine, the com;

bination with a dial, of a plurality of sets of pins, each set being movably mounted on said dial, means controlled by the pattern card for projecting or withdrawing the pins of the different sets, a plunger mounted on a stationary partof the machine, means connected with the plunger for projecting it against the surface of the dial when the proper position on the pattern card is reached, said dial having an arcuate slot for receiving said plunger and means in the oove for forcing the plunger out of it, a toothed wheel carried by the dial in position to be operated by the plunger when located in the slot, a pair ofcams carried by the toothed wheel and means operated by each of said cams for moving the pins of one set either to active or inactive position for changing yarn guides, one at each feed, of a set of star wheels, means operated by each star wheel for throwing a yarn guide in or out, a pair of pins mounted on the dial for operating said star wheels, a plate carrying the pins, said plate and pins being movable, a cam for operating said plate, and pattern card controlled means for operating said cam.

4:. In a circular knitting machine, the com bination of a rotary dial, a series of yarn guides, one at each feed, means for throwing the yarn guides in or out at the different feeds or stations, central means for controlling the several means for throwing in and out the yarn guides, a pair of pins mounted on the dial for operating said yarn guide throwing means, and means for throwing the pins into and out of operative position.

5. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a dial, of a plurality of sets of pins, each set being movably mounted on said dial, means controlled by the pattern card for projecting or withdrawing the pins of the different sets, a plunger mounted on a stationary part of the machine, means connected with the plunger for projecting it against the surface of the dial when the proper position on the pattern card is reached, said dial having an arcuate slot for receiving said plunger and means in the groove for forcing the plunger out of it, and means controlled by the plunger and slot for moving the pins of one set to alter the location of the color change.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto afiixed our signatures.

DAVID M. CLARK. ADOLF H. HENNE. 

